Erin McQuarrie

Name: Erin McQuarrie

Studio location: Brooklyn, NYC

Website / social links: erinmcquarrie.com, @erin.mcquarrie

Loom type or tool preference: Tapestry

Years weaving: 2

Fiber inclination: Anything I have an interest in that will agree with the warp

Current favorite weaving book: Sheila Hicks, Weaving as Metaphor

 

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

I trained in textiles at The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and although I studied screen printing, I was lucky to be around many very talented weavers and a fantastic weaving workshop. The large wooden dobby looms, were a complete enigma to me then but I was always captivated by them as objects. My graduate collection contained a lot of off-loom weaving with print and since moving to New York for my MFA, I have been lucky to have very inspiring classmates and tutors, like Victoria Manganiello, who taught me how to weave on a floor loom. I am very thankful for this enthusiastic community and their skill share, alongside many old library textbooks which have helped along the way.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I try not to linger on this idea too much but the phrase I am drawn to most is textile artist, as I feel it highlights an underpinning of craft and emphasizes that I use tactile mediums to convey concept in my work.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

In school learning paper weaving patterns. I was very enticed by the way you could affect separate colors by creating a uniform ground. My dad is a painter and growing up he taught me a lot about perception, composition, and color. So, I remember it clicking that this process of weaving, was actually very similar in ways to painting.

In addition, a large part of my early adulthood was spent as an athlete and a lot of the training drills would have weave in the titles, ‘cross court weave’, ‘three-person weave’ and although this may seem far removed, I think it taught me a lot about interaction and movement in space which I can now apply to my practice.

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

During a project, my process is always circular in fashion, letting one thing inform another. I work from archives and let my understanding of historical textile processes or objects inform a narrative that relates to the present and most often, my urban environment. I take photos, draw, paint, and write poetry and I believe each is intrinsic to the production of any textiles I make.

 5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

Yes, my work is very much grounded in a desire to relate ancient skillsets to the present, marrying them with digital methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, predominantly working from my bedroom, as facilities have been limited, I have retreated to ancient weaving methods like sprang and tapestry. I feel it is within these frame works we can encode information and problem solve to make sense of our environments and emotions, like many have done before us.

My latest body of work is a series of ‘Prosaic Looms’ made from found objects, pre-consumer textile waste and household items. I see these as artifacts, tools, and markers of our current situation. The end point prevailing, that no matter what situation you find yourself in you can still weave.

This time, working and studying from home, has truly consolidated my love for textiles. As a medium, it almost begs for isolating yourself as processes take time. You can always rely on the meditative aspects of becoming lost in a weaving or stitching to provide solace and a feeling of connection to a wider community. It is no wonder that more people are drawn to textiles during this time. The world feels upside down and tactile connections are a way to process the transient nature of what we are all experiencing.

 

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

It is hard to pin down a part that I do not enjoy, but I will go with sewing in the ends. Mid weaving is probably my favorite, when you have found your flow and body mind and thought have come together at the loom. Here, it feels like a safe and comforting space.

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

I do but my priority right now is to make in a very uninhibited way. I am currently in my second year of my MFA at Parsons School of Design and I am aware that this time is so precious.

8. Where do you find inspiration?

Any and everywhere. I am truly enamored by New York City and my current home in Brooklyn, so a lot of inspiration I take from subway rides, playing basketball and pieces of information I get from the city. When I am on the streets, I am collecting fragments of color, light, and texture. I think these momentary glimpses are so important. This is intermingled with my research of textile history and a strong interest in my Scottish heritage, which somehow always finds its own subtle way into my work. The beauty of woven cloth is that it can be a carrier for all this information, the structure of warp and weft, welcomes juxtaposition and conversations between ideas.  

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

Discovering the work and writing of Josef and Anni Albers has been one of the most pivotal influences on my practice along with the work of many of their students; Sheila Hicks, Ruth Asawa, Trude Guermonprez, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. To look back at Black Mountain College, it really seems like a moment of creative explosion where people had no inhibitions, were encouraged, and allowed themselves to observe, play, discover and make.

Lenore Tawney and Agnes Martin are also key figures for me, for their understanding of space, grids and how to manipulate them. When I found out recently, they shared a studio space together in the 70’s, it was a nice surprise that made perfect sense. Of artists working today, I love the work of El Anatsui and Cornelia Parker for their sheer ability to hone base materials, storytelling, and sculptural nature of their works.

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

Print and Paint!

Do you have any upcoming exhibits, talks, or events the community should know about?

I am in my final year of my MFA at Parsons in NYC, so hopefully people can see our graduation show in person come May!